Always Remember...

Reader Simi L. – a frequent source of humor for this blog – passes this gem along:

When you have an “I Hate My Job” day, try this:

On your way home from work, stop at your pharmacy, go to the thermometer section, and purchase a rectal thermometer made by Johnson & Johnson. Be very sure you get this brand.

When you get home, lock your doors, draw the curtains and disconnect the phone so you will not be disturbed. Change into very comfortable clothing and sit in your favorite chair. Open the package and remove the thermometer. Now, carefully place it on a table or a surface so that it will not become chipped or broken.

Now the fun part begins.

Take out the literature from the box and read it carefully. You will notice that in small print there is a statement: “Every Rectal Thermometer made by Johnson & Johnson is personally tested and then sanitized.”

Now, close your eyes and repeat out loud five times: “I am so glad I do not work in the thermometer quality control department at Johnson & Johnson.”

Have a nice day, and try to remember: there is always someone else with a job that is more of a pain in the butt than yours!

Mercury!

Yesterday the Messenger spacecraft made its second fly-by of the planet Mercury, and early this morning it started returning science data from the encounter – including the three photos shown here.

This is another of NASA's robotic explorers that's doing incredible science at a bargain-basement price (especially compared to the International Space Station).

NASA's press release starts:

MESSENGER Reveals Mercury as Never Seen Before

When Mariner 10 flew past Mercury three times in 1974 and 1975, the probe imaged less than half the planet. In January, during MESSENGER’s first flyby, its cameras returned images of about 20 percent of the planet’s surface missed by Mariner 10. Yesterday, at 4:40 am EDT, MESSENGER successfully completed its second flyby of Mercury, and its cameras captured more than 1,200 high-resolution and color images of the planet – unveiling another 30 percent of Mercury’s surface that had never before been seen by spacecraft.

“The MESSENGER team is extremely pleased by the superb performance of the spacecraft and the payload,” said MESSENGER Principal Investigator Sean Solomon of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. “We are now on the correct trajectory for eventual insertion into orbit around Mercury, and all of our instruments returned data as planned from the side of the planet opposite to the one we viewed during our first flyby. When these data have been digested and compared, we will have a global perspective of Mercury for the first time.”

I'd say they sound a little excited. As well they should be.

As usual, click on any of the photos for a larger view...

SDGE Proposal...

Recently SDG&E proposed to start making preemptive power cuts during especially high Santa Ana winds (estimated to be a once-in-three-years sort of event). The idea is to reduce the probability of downed power lines starting a fire. The map at right shows the areas where these cuts would take place. Jamul and Lawson Valley are well within the affected areas.

Those of us who live in the affected areas tend to have an immediate reaction of alarm. They're proposing to cut off our power at the very moment when we need it the most – while we're trying to protect our property from a rapidly advancing firestorm. If this proposal becomes actual policy, those of us who can afford it will most likely buy backup generators. Those of us who can't afford it will suddenly be at greater risk.

I don't have any personal knowledge of the probability that a downed power line could start a fire. I do recall that not so many years ago, a helicopter downed a power line near Julian and started the Pines fire. And during our most recent fires – just a year ago – several allegations of wind-blown power lines starting fires were made (these are the subject of the lawsuit mentioned above). What I don't know is the truth of the matter. If in fact there is substantial risk of wind-blown power lines starting fires, then the SDG&E proposal may in fact be worth considering. During one of our hellacious Santa Anas, anything that reduces fire risk is worth considering. I know that during those storms I get very upset when I see smokers outside, or a neighbor burning some brush...

The timing of SDG&E's proposal lends credence to the notion that their real goal is legislative relief from liability for powerline-caused fires. The lawsuit currently wending its way through the court system is exactly on this point.

On the other hand, as a business they have an obligation to their shareholders to mitigate risks. Certainly both the lawsuit (whether based on reality or not) and the possibility of wind-blown power lines starting fires are risks to their shareholders. So from their point of view, this proposal makes perfect sense.

So what's the right thing to do here? For me, the answer depends on a piece of information I don't have: whether strong Santa Ana winds really do have some real chance of causing fires by blowing down power lines. If the answer to that is “yes”, then I think they've got the right idea – and I'll start looking at backup generators. If the answer is “no”, then I think we should oppose this proposal – but give SDG&E that legislative relief from liability.

Do any of my readers know where I can find the answer to that question?

Worldometers...

Interesting set of realtime statistics at Worldometers...

Lamestream Media Parable...

My mom sent this along...

The Biker and the Lion

A biker is riding by the zoo, when he sees a little girl leaning into the lion's cage. Suddenly, the lion grabs her by the cuff of her jacket and tries to pull her inside to slaughter her, under the very eyes of her screaming parents.

The biker jumps off his bike, runs to the cage and hits the lion square on the nose with a powerful punch. Whimpering from the pain the lion jumps back letting go of the girl, and the biker brings her to her terrified parents, who thank him endlessly.

A New York Times reporter has watched the whole event. The reporter says, 'Sir, this was the most gallant and brave thing I ever saw a man do in my whole life.'

The biker replies, 'Why, it was nothing, really, the lion was behind bars. I just saw this little kid in danger, and acted as I felt was right.'

The reporter says, 'Well, I'm a journalist from the New York Times, and tomorrow's paper will have this story on the front page... So, what do you do for a living and what political affiliation do you have?'

The biker replies, 'I'm a U.S. Marine and a Republican.'

The following morning the biker buys the New York Times to see if it indeed brings news of his actions, and reads, on front page:

U.S. MARINE ASSAULTS AFRICAN IMMIGRANT AND STEALS HIS LUNCH!

With respect to political bias, the Grey Lady has gotten so bad in the last few years that I wouldn't be a bit surprised to see something much like this actually happen.

The Trip Home...

Our route home yesterday included the segment of U.S. 395 that stretches from the town of John Day to the Oregon/California border. All of these photos were taken along that stretch, which includes some tremendously varied flora, fauna, and geology. As always, click on a thumbnail to get a larger version. Counting from left-to-right and top-to-bottom, here are a few comments on the photos:

1. Between John Day and Burns, storm clouds over fields of grass...

2, 3, 4. Between John Day and Burns, white birch in their fall colors...

5. Stretch of U.S. 395 south of Burns, looking south down the rift-made steppes and into the storm...

6. South of Burns, looking north along U.S. 395, with a shadowed rift escarpment visible under the brooding storm clouds...

7. Lake Abert, a mineral-laden alkalai lake under the Abert Rift escarpment. The lake is home to many migratory and resident birds, including geese, phalaropes, and avocets. The plains are home to prong-horn antelope, deer, and elk. The escarpment is home to a large population of bighorn sheep. There is much more life here than one might imagine when zipping by this high desert community of sage, pinyon pine, and desert cedar...

8. Prong-horn antelope, grazing without apparent concern in a farmer's field...

9, 10. Migratory cranes, which gathered by the hundreds in many different places along our route...

Race...

Race is a purebred Border Collie, six months old and completely untrained (in anything, not just agility). He arrived in our household early this morning. Already he's the playful companion of our three field spaniels, and starting to get introduced to our cats. We've seen no bad behaviors (aggressiveness, shyness, etc.) to worry about at all, which is a very pleasant surprise. He slept in a crate last night with no problems, another very pleasant surprise.

Today Debbie started his training. He's getting a little crate training and some real basic obedience stuff. He's a fast learner – Debbie's having great fun with him already.
Here are a few first-day photos of Race...

Checking In...

At 2:15 this morning, Debbie and I rolled back into our yard. This marked the finish of a marathon road trip, from Jamul to John Day, Oregon, and back The purpose of this craziness? We picked up the newest addition to our menagerie: “Race” – a six month old Border Collie puppy.

We left early on Friday morning, and drove the 1100 miles to John Day in 19 hours. We met Angie and her son Clay (the young fellow who raised the litter of puppies Race was part of) that evening, and got Race. We also picked up Race's brother “Sarge”, whom we were delivering to another new owner in the Los Angeles area. Then we went to bed for a few hours, got up at 4 am on Saturday morning, had a wonderful breakfast cooked by Angie's mom, and then we were back on the road again by 6 am. Twenty hours and 1100 miles later, we rolled back into our yard.

You could say we were a little tired, but that wouldn't even begin to describe it.

More later, including some photos of Race and the trip...

Hard at Work...

From my wife:

On TV today a Democratic operative pointed out that when Obama holds a rally 25-30,000 people show up, whereas when McCain holds one he only draws 10-15,000.

The Republican spokesman replied, “That's because McCain's supporters are at work.”

Heh!

Mo'i Update...

Mo'i continues to do unreasonably well – his hair has now grown back enough to hide the square gray patch, and the incision has healed so well that it's now just barely visible.

Tomorrow Mo'i goes back to the vet for his two week checkup. The poor guy has spent the entire last two weeks in his crate, to enforce quiet and calm – he's going stir-crazy. Hopefully we will get the okay tomorrow to let the miserable mutt out of jail. If so, you can expect one very, very happy dog tomorrow night!

Correlation is Not Causation...

Found this little gem through Climate Skeptic. Just look at those two curves – obviously they are very closely correlated. Immediately the human mind leaps to the conclusion that one of them caused the other – but that seems quite unlikely in this case.

Because, you know, rock 'n roll songs really aren't very closely related to U.S. domestic oil production. Just sayin'...

Read the whole snarky thing...

Video Explanations...

A few days ago, a well-done video was posted up on YouTube explaining the origins of the current financial crisis. The video paid particular attention to the role of Congress in first mandating mortgages for non-creditworthy home buyers (they didn't call it this, of course – but that's what it was), and secondly in refusing to impose restrictions or even oversight when things started to go awry nearly ten years ago. Instead they did the opposite, mandating more of these “dodgy debts” – featuring new provisions even dodgier than the old ones (that's where things like the 120%, no down payment, no document mortgages came from).

I didn't bother linking the video because it had gone viral – every major blog (on both sides of the issue) was carrying it. But yesterday the video was pulled, ostensibly because of copyright violations (something not often encountered in political ads). Many who oppose Obama suspect foul play, or at least dirty tricks. Meanwhile, the video (slightly modified) is still available here – if you're one of the 14 people and 33 monkeys who haven't already seen it, do watch it...

On Palin vs. Biden...

Travis and Jonathan (of Red State Update) crack me up again:

Sarah Palin Interview...

No, not the one with Gibson, or the one with Couric – the one with Hugh Hewitt (which you'll never hear on the lamestream media). An excerpt:

Hugh Hewitt: Governor, let’s close with some foreign affairs. It is reported that you had an Israeli flag in your governor’s office. You wore an Israeli flag pin occasionally. One, is that true? And two, why your support for Israel?

Sarah Palin: Well, it is true, and I ran into Shimon Peres recently at a meeting, and he even pointed that out. He said I saw a picture of you on the internet, and you had an Israeli flag in your state government office, and I said I sure do. You know, my heart is with you. And all of those trials and tribulations throughout history that Israel has gone through, not only does that allow me to want to support that country, but Israel is our strongest and most important ally in the Middle East. And they are a democratic country who I believe deserves our support, and I know that John McCain believes as I do that Israel is our friend, and we need to be there to support them. They are there for us, and I do love that country.

Hugh Hewitt: Last question, Governor. Have you and Todd heard from your son? And how is it on your nerves having your son deployed?

Sarah Palin: That little stinker, I guess he’s called his girlfriend a couple of times, but can you believe he hasn’t called his momma yet? He’s over there. They were just leaving Kuwait heading into Iraq, and I am just so extremely proud of Track, my son, and all of the men and women, of course, serving in the military. I’m proud that my son made this independent and very wise decision as such a young man at 18, deciding you know, he realized there’s something he can do to help, to contribute, to help protect our nation, and I couldn’t be more proud of him and all those who choose to serve in our military. They’re serving for the right reasons. God bless them, God love them.

Nothing really significant about these answers, except (for me, at least) this aspect: she doesn't sound like a politician. She sounds like a normal human being. How refreshing!

And how very appealing right about now...

Dodgy Debt...

Leave it to the British comedians to hit the nail directly on the head when it comes to lampooning the current financial craziness:

Those Pesky Youths...

Says the Associated Press, last night:

ROMANS-SUR-ISERE, France (AP) - A French police officer was shot and wounded during clashes with youths that broke out after a teenager died while fleeing police, authorities said Tuesday.

The officer appeared to have been shot in the leg with a hunting rifle, said the police prefecture in Romans-sur-Isere, a southeastern town located 60 miles from Lyon in the Rhone Valley on the edge of the Alps. The officer's life was not in danger. Dents from bullets and buckshot were also found in police vehicles nearby.

Police used tear gas and rubber pellets to push back some 50 youths during clashes late Monday and early Tuesday. Several cars were burned and about 15 shop windows were smashed.

After nightfall Tuesday, some 300 riot police officers and gendarmes took up positions around the center of town to prevent a second night of clashes. Some teams of officers were brought in from neighboring regions.

Most Americans remain blissfully unaware that France has been suffering through over three years of violent nightly rioting. That's right, every single night. According to several of my friends in Europe, most Europeans are also unaware of the rioting, or at least the magnitude of it – both because of careful reporting and general apathy. The primary reported feature of this rioting is cars being burned – sometimes only a few dozen in a night, sometimes hundreds.

Yesterday a policeman was shot. This level of violence is relatively rare, happening only a few times in the entire period.

Here's the really disturbing part about these reports, whether they come from the Associated Press or Reuters (a French company!): because of self-imposed rules supporting multi-culturalism, they refuse to report a rather obviously salient fact. No matter how many of these reports I read (and I've read hundreds), the two mainsteam reporting agencies never tell you that the “youths” who are rioting are, in fact, radicalized Muslims – primarily young, jobless men from the ghettoized slums of France's cities. You'll only find that out from independent reporters, local bloggers, and the like.

The reality, which appears when you get your news outside the mainstream: for more than 1,000 nights now, one or more cities in France has seen rioting by radical Muslim youths. The overall level of rioting, if one can grasp such a concept, rises and falls according to recent events. The mobs' favorite targets are cars – those obvious symbols of wealth that the rioters, by and large, do not possess. A distant second on their list of targets are the shops, another symbol of wealth and prosperity. That would be the wealth and prosperity of those non-Muslims, of course.

All the Little Children...

Now here's something that struck me as deeply creepy and disturbing – a modern-day American version of the kind of manipulation of children that I used to associate with regimes like North Korea, the Soviet Union, or Nazi Germany. Now Obama's campaign supporters join that little gang in my mind:


And according to what I've read about this, the financial support for this little production comes from the president of NBC.

I'll bet the people who produced this video thought it was really sweet and cute. I'll bet they have absolutely no idea what shudders of disgust and horror it produces in viewers with a little knowledge of history. And I'll bet they have never heard of the pervasive indoctrination of children that so characterizes such awful tyrannies...

Pro and Con...

The recent shenanigans with the bailout made me remember this little gem:

If con is the opposite of pro, then Congress is the opposite of Progress.

Quite.

If anyone knows who first said that, let me know – I've not been able to find a source...

Quote of the Day...

Apropos of my earlier post, Mark Steyn says:

As a general proposition, when told by unanimous elites that a particular course of action is urgent and necessary to avoid disaster, there's a lot to be said for going fishing.

Bailout and Meltdown Thoughts...

A number of you have asked what my opinion is on the bailout proposal, and the threat of meltdown in the financial world. The short answer: I'm confused.

My confusion stems from this: the panic from Wall Street and Washington doesn't seem to jibe with anything I can observe myself. In other words, from where I sit I don't see any reason why Wall Street and Washington are panicking. All the usual measurements of economic health are looking good: the unemployment rate is near historic lows, inflation is low, lending rates are high, GNP is growing, etc., etc. Nothing looks like a recession is imminent, much less a depression.

So what is all this talk about a meltdown on Wall Street based on? Lots of very credible people, with lots of expertise in the markets, are acting very much like the world is about to end. I certainly understand that a number of big financial institutions are sitting on a bunch of bad debt. I understand that this started with mandates from Congress for mortgages to be made to people who really wouldn't qualify under rational rules, and that the machinery set up to allow these mortgages encouraged more and more risky mortgages to be made. What I don't understand is why this all adds up to the end of the world. Companies succeeding and failing is what capitalism is all about; it's the core of what makes our system work.

My instinctive reaction to the bailout is that it's a really, really bad idea. Fundamentally the companies that are in trouble now are in trouble because they managed risk badly. They took investors' money and made bad choices with how they invested it. In the natural capitalistic scheme of things, these companies should fail, their managers should be weeded out, and companies who made better choices should be rewarded with more business. Rescuing these badly managed companies distorts this natural capitalistic process by allowing the failures to survive, and removing the reward from the successful companies. The distortion might even be worse – it might end up that the rescued companies end up making large profits after the bailout, which is exactly the opposite of what should happen.

As many others have observed, the bailout smacks of socialism. It's the kind of thing one expects to see happen in France, not in the United States. Hell, it's the kind of thing we once laughed at France for...

Extreme Redneck Symptoms...

Courtesy of Simi L.:

1. You let your 14-year-old daughter smoke at the dinner table in front of her kids.
   
   
2. The Blue Book value of your truck goes up and down depending on how much gas is in it.
   
   
3. You've been married three times and still have the same in-laws.
   
   
4. You think a woman who is out of your league bowls on a different night.
   
   
5. You wonder how service stations keep their rest-rooms so clean.
   
   
6. Someone in your family died right after saying, 'Hey, guys, watch this.'
   
   
7. You think Dom Perignon is a Mafia leader.
   
   
8. Your wife's hairdo was once ruined by a ceiling fan.
   
   
9. Your junior prom offered day care.
   
   
10. You think the last words of the Star-Spangled Banner are 'Gentlemen, start your engines. '
    
    
11. You lit a match in the bathroom and your house exploded right off its wheels.
    
    
12. The Halloween pumpkin on your porch has more teeth than your spouse.
    
    
13. You have to go outside to get something from the fridge.
    
    
14. One of your kids was born on a pool table.
    
    
15. You need one more hole punched in your card to get a freebie at the House of Tattoos.
    
    
16. You can't get married to your sweetheart because there's a law against it.
    
    
17. You think loading the dishwasher means getting your wife drunk.

Thanks for the belly-laughs, Simi!

Executive Skills...

Nearly ever person I've met who has some executive experience would agree with this comment: that people without executive experience generally don't have the faintest idea what an executive does, or what skills are needed to be an effective executive. That would include executives, before they became executives.

Like most people with executive experience, I've got my own collection of “executive wisdom” and rules-of-thumb. For instance, I've often commented that one of the key skills for any executive is the simple willingness to make decisions in the face of insufficient or conflicting information. Most people are very uncomfortable making important decisions until they've had a chance to do all the research, to think about the pros and cons, consult with trusted advisors, and generally to have enough time to get comfortable with their decision. Executives often are forced to make decisions without any of these luxuries.

Another of my executive rules-of-thumb is “embrace chaos”, by which I mean that an executive should learn to relish the never-ending stream of surprises that the messy real world throws at you. Too often executives see these events as a stream of problems and annoyances, rather than as a stream of opportunities being presented (even if the only opportunity is to suffer less damage than your competitors!).

TigerHawk dissects another such executive skill, a better articulated version of my executive rule-of-thumb “Do something, even if it's wrong!”

Ah, the Joys of Aging...

Yesterday Debbie and I tackled a long-overdue chore: cleaning up our totally out-of-control patio. We worked hard, all day long, and then treated ourselves to a delicious dinner at the always-wonderful Descanso Junction Restaurant. When we came home, we tumbled into bed, exhausted and sleepy. Aches and pains abounded for me, and the ever-solicitous Debbie brought me a Vicodin from her hoard of left-over tablets to make the pains disappear.

And disappear they did, which was great. But the not-so-great part: I never went to sleep at all last night. I tossed and turned until 2 am, at which point I just gave up, and got up.

Sigh.

Mucking Up the Data...

Here's a wonderfully detailed and documented example of how NASA takes perfectly good data (which doesn't happen to support AGW) and “adjusts” it until it does. In a nutshell, here's what it says: NASA took data from a source that is provably very reliable and consistent, but which didn't show any global warming trends. Then NASA applied a series of adjustments to that data, and used the adjusted data as part of their global warming model. After all the adjustments, the data magically supports their global warming hypothesis.

It's as though you weighed yourself on the same scale every day of your life and kept meticulous records of that – but then your doctor didn't believe the results, and applied his own arbitrary set of adjustments to your data.

Your tax dollars, hard at work. But not for your benefit...

Solar Wind at a Minimum...

NASA held a news conference earlier this week, and this was the main topic:

The intensity of the sun's million-mile-per-hour solar wind has dropped to its lowest levels since accurate records began half a century ago...

The data they're talking about comes from the Ulysses spacecraft, which has long been in orbit around the sun.

There's much more to the story than just this carefully crafted statement from NASA, however. The solar wind they're referring to is “blown” outward from the sun by the pressure of the sun's radiation. The only reason why the solar wind would have diminished is because the sun's radiation output has diminished – which we already know from other measurments. So in that sense this new piece of data is completely unsurprising, but still useful as confirmation.

NASA gets a significant part of its funding as science grants, independently from the space program funding. The science grant gravy train has never been as magnificent as it has during these days of anthropomorphic global warming (AGW) fears. So NASA, for years now, has been very careful to craft its public presentations in such a way as to support AGW fears – they've got a lot of money riding on that. This week's press conference was a real problem for the message crafters, though, because you don't have to be particularly bright to figure out that if there's good evidence that the sun's radiation output is declining, then hey, that might just have something to do with the fact that the planet has been cooling for several years.

And if the planet is now cooling because the sun's radiation is lower, then perhaps the planet might have been warming earlier because the sun's radiation was increasing back then.

And maybe all this AGW talk is just a bunch of hooey.

But NASA doesn't like that answer very much, because then there's much less reason to fund all their AGW-related programs so lavishly.

Oops.

Morning, and Mo'i...

Mo'i is still doing fantastically well. It's just one week since his surgery, but he's rarin' to go – we have to actively control him in order to keep him as quiet as the doctor ordered. Basically these days he lives in his little crate or on a leash, poor guy. He's going to be one very happy fellow in a week or so, when we can first let him run free.

His surgical incision is healing very quickly. It already looks like a relatively minor, albeit big, cut. His hair is growing back on the shaved spot, and it's easy to see that within a few weeks he'll be looking practically normal. For Mo'i, that is...

It was a beautiful morning here again – crisp and clear, with a nice waning moon low in the northeastern sky, just down from Castor and Pollux. Ursa Major has wheeled just a bit higher in the sky; in a couple of weeks it will all be visible again at 4 am...

Quotes of the Day...

Megan McArdle is on a roll today – two delicious zingers in a row.

First, her reaction to the news that the FBI is investigating several major Wall Street firms:

For what, I have no idea. Is stupidity a federal offense? And if so, when do they investigate congress?

The lady has a way with words!

The second Megan quote needs a little background, in the form of a quote of Joe (“The Mouth”) Biden speaking yesterday:

"Part of what being a leader does is to instill confidence is to demonstrate what he or she knows what they are talking about and to communicating to people ... this is how we can fix this," Biden said. "When the stock market crashed, Franklin Roosevelt got on the television and didn't just talk about the princes of greed. He said, 'look, here's what happened.'"

Now there are a couple of things wrong with that statement by The Mouth. First there's the minor little detail that FDR wasn't yet President at the time of the 1929 crash. Then there's the other pesky detail that commercial television was still about 10 years in the future!

Says Megan:

I certainly feel better knowing that come next November, I might have a savvy politician like Joe Biden explaining complex financial matters to me. And also, how the governor of New York managed to get his own financial show ten years before the first regularly scheduled television broadcast.

Ouch! Zing!

Morning, and Mo'i...

Mo'i continues to do spectacularly well – for the past day or so, his behavior has been completely normal, as though he never had the surgery at all.

This morning, as on nearly every morning out here in the chaparral, the skies were clear and bright with stars and the moon. The constellations wheel clockwise around Polaris (the north star) with the seasons, and this time of year brings Orion up high in the morning's eastern sky. Orion was the first constellation I learned to recognize, and it's usually how I start orienting myself with the sky. Now bright, bright Sirius is also well above the eastern horizon in the early morning. The moon this morning was near Castor and Pollux, up by Orion's right arm. The Pleiadies (the Seven Sisters) were nearly directly overhead. And Ursa Major (the Big Dipper) is peeking up over the northern horizon, below and to the right of Polaris. A very nice morning for a little stargazing...

Mo'i Update...

This morning as I opened the door to his crate, Mo'i practically smothered me with his patented “hugs” (which consist mainly of him pressing into you like a bulldozer) and ear nibbles. He was feeling very frisky, and seemed completely normal in his behavior – an observation that was only reinforced by his morning walk. His gait is normal, his energy level and “pull” is normal, the incision looks better every hour that goes by, and our biggest problem is keeping the big old lunk quiet and calm. And this is only on day 3 of a 14 day prescription for quiet!

It is so good to see Mo'i looking so well...

Yikes!

This weekend, like most weekends, The Smoking Gun has a carnival of mug shots. The one at right is from this week's collection.

All I can think to say is: YIKES!

But remember... Even this fellow has a mother...

Quote of the Day...

From Jeff Goldstein, at Protein Wisdom:

For those who shout loudest about a necessary “wall” between church and state (which is not in keeping with the plain meaning of the Establishment Clause), there never seems to be any recognition that the actual problem (as opposed to hyperventilating concerns over “Christianists”) is that the new church of politicized science is actively intermingled with the business of the state, elevating political faith to the kind of religion that is infecting public policy to an unhealthy degree.

...and the anthropomorphic global warming phenomenon is perhaps the very best current example, and Al Gore is the high priest. Do read the whole thing, and the WSJ article he's commenting on; both pieces are great Sunday ponder-producers...

Lovely Lawson Valley Weather...

We are having unusually beautiful weather for this season. Normally September is one of our hottest, driest months. We've had some hot days this month, to be sure, but the average temperatures have been well below normal.

Yesterday, last night, and today our weather has been more typical of what we get in November – cool, dry days with very clear air and gorgeous blue skies, and then very cool (cold for us!) and humid nights. As you can see by the chart at right, last night we had several hours at 100% relative humidity – most definitely not normal for September. And the temperature dropped all the way to 47°F (8°C) – certainly not unheard of for us, even on a summer evening, but very welcome nonetheless. We haven't run our air conditioner for several days now – I can't remember that ever happening in September before!

If this is what global warming is, I'd like more of it!

Health Care Choices...

Dr. Paul Hsieh, the wizard behind the curtains at GeekPress, has an excellent opinion piece in the Rocky Mountain News. In it, he takes a stand against Colorado's Amendment 56, a proposed law that Coloradans will vote on in November. This law would require all but the tiniest businesses to provide company-paid health insurance for all of their workers. An excerpt:

Two motivations behind this proposed law are (1) the mistaken notion that health care should be a guaranteed “right," and (2) the desire to force businesses (rather than government) to pay for this supposed obligation. But health care is a need, not a right. A right is a freedom of action in a social context, such as the freedom of speech.

It is not an automatic claim on a good or service that must be produced by someone else. There is no such thing as a “right” to a car or an appendectomy. Any attempt by the government to guarantee a false “right” to health care can only be done by violating the actual rights of someone — in this case, business owners.

Dr. Hsieh is not in the majority amongst doctors, if I believe what I read on the matter. Most doctors would like to see all patients have health insurance, and they really don't care very much how that's done – they'll support just about any proposal to provide universal health care insurance.

I'd like to see a few simple, basic reforms to our current health care system:

• The removal of the special tax status that health insurance expenses now have for businesses, coupled with making health insurance costs tax-deductible for individuals. This would remove the artificial incentive for employers to provide health insurance, which is the only reason that employers are expected to provide health insurance today. At the same time, it would create an incentive for individuals to purchase health insurance, in exactly the same way that the mortgage deduction provides an incentive for people to purchase a home.
  
  
• The removal of all the current regulatory barriers to providing and purchasing intrastate health insurance. These regulations today primarily benefit the insurance companies, by limiting the competitive environment to individual states, and discouraging low-cost nationwide entrants. Many people aren't even aware of these regulations, because it is primarily the employers who must deal with them. Today a resident of (say) New York is not allowed to purchase a less-expensive health insurance policy from a company in (say) South Dakota. There's no good reason for this from the consumer's perspective, though it's wonderful from the insurance company's perspective (and the state legislators who benefit from the insurance companies' largesse).

I believe that if just those reforms were enacted, our health care system would be transformed by the forces of competition in the marketplace. For example, consumers would suddenly become aware that if they were willing to cover the minor, routine health care costs themselves, they could purchase very low cost major medical insurance to cover the truly catastrophic illnesses or injuries. This is a choice most people simply don't have today – but I'd be willing to bet you many people would make that choice if they could. Similarly, doctors and hospitals would suddenly have an incentive to provide high quality health care at a lower cost. The incentives today that encourage doctors to order extra (but unnecessary) tests would be flipped upside down – suddenly those extra tests will make them less competitive. These are the exact same market forces that give us the modern miracles of production, like personal computers and the fantastically high quality automobiles we drive today...

I know I'm dreaming, but...I'm allowed to dream, aren't I?

Your Morning Mo'i (and Other Dogly Adventures)...

We're seeing progress almost by the hour with Mo'i. Last night when I took him out on a walk, he did something he does when he's happy – he grabbed the leash in his mouth and “took himself for a walk.” It was very nice to see that behavior, because we know he only does it when he's feeling good. This morning Debbie inspected the incision, and she was happy to see that the swelling is down (exactly as the vet predicted), and there still is no sign of infection. All good!

We had a dog adventure of a totally different kind last night, by coincidence (or at least we think so!). Mo'i, for obvious reasons, couldn't sleep on our bed as he normally does. We had him in a crate in our bedroom. Around 2:30 am, he started whining – something he has done before when we've had him crated. The whining could mean he needs a walk, or (more likely) it just means he wants to get up on the bed.

Debbie got up and took him for a walk just in case, but when she crawled back into bed we noticed there was a wet spot on the bed. A big wet spot, as though someone had dumped a glass of water there. Of course our first thought was that one of our dogs had peed on the bed – something none of our dogs has done for years. But no, this wet spot had no odor, and seemed clean, like plain water. The only thing I've been able to imagine is dog saliva, as though one of the dogs slept with its mouth open and drooling.

Whatever it was, it wasn't something we cared to splash about in as we slept. So (at 2:30 am!) we got up, stripped the bed, threw the bed clothes in the washer, and “camped” in the living room. We made a bed on the floor by using cushions from several chairs and sofas and throwing some blankets over them. Not a very satisfactory bed, for sure – Debbie and I are a little stiff this morning...

Mo'i Update...

Mo'i is doing great! I just got back from taking him for a short walk, and it was a joy to see him behaving completely normally. As usual, he investigated every gopher and ground squirrel hole (even the ones that haven't been used for years!). If you're Mo'i, it's important to smell them all carefully – you just never know when a critter might come by...

When we got back in the house, I took the opportunity to take a few photos. At right you see him looking almost normal. Only the shaved spot on his right front leg (where the catheter was) shows any evidence of his recent surgery. In the photos below, the surgery is a bit more evident.

The surgical wound is looking great. There is no evidence of infection, and only minor swelling. We're keeping an eye out for anything looking abnormal here, at the direction of the vet. Mo'i doesn't go back in for a checkup for two weeks.

As always, click on any of the photos to get a larger view...

Mo'i Is Home!

Yesterday Mo'i had surgery to repair a slipped disc. This morning, an astonished-sounding vet called Debbie and said (with many more words) that Mo'i was recovering so well and so fast that he thought we should take him home this evening.

So of course we did! Debbie and I drove down together, paid our bill (don't ask!), and waited for the technician to bring Mo'i down to us. He rounded the corner in the hallway well ahead of the technician, who was leaning backwards to counter-balance Mo'i's bulldozer-like pulling. That was one happy dog! Lots of happy grunting and whimpering, hugs, and a 200 mile-per-hour wagging tail. We lifted him carefully into the truck and took off for home.

And now Mo'i is resting very comfortably in his familiar crate. He is one very happy dog tonight. Adding to his pleasure is the fact that he has no dietary restrictions, so he's getting (and will be getting) a few more than the usual dog treats – and there's nothing that Mo'i likes more than dog treats!

He's got a rectangular shaved area on his back, with a roughly 8 inch long incision running right down his backbone. There are no sutures visible; the technician told us they were entirely under the skin. Mo'i acts almost completely normal, and his strength seems to be unreduced – certainly not what I was expecting after such a major surgery. Twice since we've had him home, he's yelped in pain; it seems to be associated with rotating motions on his back (as when he's shaking himself). Otherwise, we can't even sense any discomfort in him. We're going to keep him completely quiet for 2 weeks, and then after that we gradually ramp up the level of exercise. The vet tells us that he should back to normal in about 6 weeks.

Amazing!

Tomorrow I'll post some pictures of Mo'i. Tonight we're just happy to have our dog back, and healthy...

Lots More Patriots...

Excellent:

We're Still Waiting, Harry...

The Washington Examiner has a great piece this morning about how Harry Reid and his band of bandits is not draining the swamp, as he promised to do. No, he's doing quite the opposite. The piece is very short, so I'm taking the liberty of republishing the whole thing:

As the stock market plunged nearly 1,000 points in two days this week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada was preoccupied with protecting billions of dollars worth of earmarks contained in a separate, unpublished committee report that got a one-sentence reference in a giant $612 billion defense bill. Reid engineered the 61-to-32 vote to limit debate on the bill, thus barring consideration of an amendment offered by Sen. Jim DeMint. The South Carolina Republican’s amendment would have deleted the reference to the committee report so that it would have to be considered separately. By leaving the language in the bill, the lawmakers were able to carry out one of their favorite maneuvers: Incorporating committee reports into omnibus bills so they can give billions of tax dollars to their cronies without recorded votes on specific spending measures. This is the same Harry Reid who with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi promised to “drain the swamp” of Republican corruption if voters would return the Democrats to the majority.

But Reid’s move was not just a slap at DeMint. Under pressure from a bipartisan coalition of fiscal watchdog groups, including Porkbusters, Club for Growth, Citizens Against Government Waste, National Taxpayers Union and Taxpayers for Common Sense, President George W. Bush signed an executive order last January that directed federal agencies to ignore earmarks that only appear in committee reports. If DeMint’s proposal had passed, the earmarks in the defense bill’s committee report would have been merely suggestions – not legally binding spending instructions. No wonder Reid made sure the South Carolinian’s amendment never made it to the Senate floor.

A task force created by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., recommends that all earmarks and their congressional sponsors be included explicitly in spending bills, so they can be honestly debated and voted upon by the House and Senate, as the Constitution requires. This would give members of Congress sufficient leeway to direct public funds to worthy projects in their home districts, while making the lawmakers accountable to taxpayers. It is significant that Armed Services Committee chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., who opposed the DeMint amendment, admitted that it would have created “a huge shift in the power of the purse.” He’s right about that. But a shift from shady legislative maneuvers like Reid’s to full public disclosure and accountability is exactly the kind of change most needed on Capitol Hill. Voters are still waiting for that swamp to be drained.

We Are Terrorists!!!

You just can't make this stuff up. This is a quote from the North Korean Foreign Ministry:

“The DPRK (North Korea) neither wishes to be delisted as a 'state sponsor of terrorism' nor expects such a thing to happen.”

The left claims to believe that any disagreements we might have with people like this can be negotiated away. Me, I think the only “negotiating” one can do with people like this is the kind of negotiating that involves aiming weapons of terrorist destruction (i.e., U.S. Marines, JDAMs, cruise missiles, etc.) directly at their heads.

The One's Email Inbox...

Courtesy of The Onion (it's a spoof, of course – but hysterical!) Click to enlarge and enjoy!

The State of the States...

The Pacific Research Institute (PRI) is out with its annual ranking of the 50 U.S. states (yes, 50, Barack, not 57!) by an economic freedom index that the PRI invented. It always makes interesting reading, and even if you don't fully agree with their criteria the comparisons between states are always interesting. Click on the picture at right to get a larger view; go here to read the whole report and the associated press release.

California is right down in the mud along with other bastions of socialism like New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York. This is no surprise to those of us who live here. I, like many others I know, constantly ask myself the question: “Is it still worth it? Is the price of living in California too high? Should I leave now?” We're still here, but we're still asking the question. Each year, more people (both numerically and percentage-wise) vote with their feet and leave – California's emigration rate has been monotonically increasing for years.

On the other side, there's a geographical cluster in the top six positions. We own some property in one of those states (Idaho), and that beckons to us as a likely refuge from California. One could have an entertaining debate about why those states rank so much higher, but for me the most interesting part is the magnitude of the difference between those high-ranked states and the low-ranked states: nearly 2-to-1 on the index. There are days – such as any day I have to listen to a California Assemblyman or Senator – when that difference is mighty appealing...

Mo'i Update...

We just heard from the vet that Mo'i is out of surgery and doing just fine. Whew!

Best of all: the surgery confirmed that the problem was exactly what the vet thought it was – fragments of disc that were pinching a nerve the runs to his right rear leg. That means it was not a tumor or any other life-threatening issue.

The vet thought she saw a single fragment on the MRI yesterday, but it turns out that the actual situation was a bit messier. If I am correctly understanding her description, it appears that for whatever reason, this particular disc in Mo'i's back calcified, hardened, and then broke apart into multiple pieces. One of those pieces was pinching that nerve.

During the surgery she cleaned out all the little fragments, then put Mo'i back together. His back is currently being iced to reduce swelling, and he's on good pain medication. They don't want us to visit tonight, because they want him quiet and still. Dang. We'd sure like to see him right about now...

But the important stuff is that he's ok, and we're done with this problem. Even better, the vet says there's no reason to believe that his agility work contributed to this injury in any way, and he's perfectly ok to go back into competition.

We can hardly wait for Saturday morning, when we get to bring him home. And tomorrow afternoon, when we can visit with him.

A big thanks to all of you who sent kind words and thoughts – 'tis much appreciated by these worried “dog parents.”

Everything Is All Right...

...but for the last 24 hours we've been really worried.

Mo'i is our agility champion field spaniel – just over 8 years old and in his prime. A few days ago Debbie noticed that he seemed to be reluctant to jump up on us (something he loves to do when he greets us), and he wouldn't do the “dog food dance” when she fed him. She figured he'd pulled a muscle or something, and was watching him closely.

Last night she noticed the symptoms suddenly got worse. Now he was favoring his right rear foot, and showing some evidence of pain. Debbie got on the phone with our wonderful vet (Dr. Christine Wilson), and then ran him right down for an exam. Shortly after that I got a call: Dr. Wilson suspected a slipped disc, or something like that, and wanted us to get Mo'i to a specialist immediately.

So I met Debbie at Dr. Wilson's place, and we headed to the Veterinary Specialty Hospital in Sorrento Valley (almost an hour from home). They examined him, and recommended an MRI to determine what was wrong. We left poor Mo'i there, in pain, and went home very worried.

This morning we got a call from the neurology vet, with some very hopeful news: after an evening on pain meds and muscle relaxants, Mo'i was looking much better. The vet even talked with us about the possibility of the injury being relatively minor, and of treating it with (basically) bed rest and quiet. But after some careful discussion with her, we decided to go ahead with the MRI to see what it would find. We want to know what's going on, and that we're giving him the best treatment – not just guess at it.

This afternoon they did the MRI, and the vet called us with the results. She's about 99% sure that there is a fragment of a disc that's pinching a nerve and causing the symptoms. She recommended surgery – but it's relatively straightforward surgery, going in through the top of the spine (bone, not muscle). Success isn't guaranteed, but it's very likely. Recovery should be fairly fast, about 5 to 7 weeks to a full recovery. And the surgery will remove all ambiguity about the cause of his problem – if it is a tumor, bony growth, or whatever, when they're done with the surgery, they'll know for sure.

This evening we went down to visit with Mo'i. Lordy, he was happy to see us! We spent some quality time with him, then remanded him to the care of the techs at the hospital. Tomorrow around midday he goes under the knife. We'll visit him again tomorrow night, and then on Friday, barring any complications, we can take him home.

We're thinking that all of this is good news. We're pretty sure now that we know what the problem is, and it's completely treatable with low-risk surgery. We went home feeling much better.

And then tonight there was one final happy event. On one of the agility newgroups (on Yahoo!), a woman that Debbie knows through agility wrote of her surprise when she discovered that Mo'i was checked into the hosptital where she works. What a coincidence! She wrote on the newsgroup of how she checked up on Mo'i several times during the day today, and will continue to do so. It is no small comfort to us to know that a friend of the family is there keeping an eye on Mo'i. And it put a smile on our face to read her reports of Mo'i's cheerful demeanor and constantly wagging tail...

We'll be a little distracted for the next few days, folks...

Service-now in the News Again...

This time it's a nice little piece about one of our customers: Orrick, an international law firm. Orrick's IT operations are located in Wheeling, West Virginia; I visited them a couple months ago to help them get our Discovery product (a piece of our overall product that I've been focused on) up and running. Here's the lead from the article:

Changing your Service Desk solution can be a large project with many challenges. The ideal is to improve customer service, while reducing costs and making the transition as painless as possible. Many companies also want to adopt ITIL processes into their Service Desk. For Orrick, the SaaS solution Service-Now.com was the choice.

The Discovery product gets a nice little mention, and there's a video showing the Orrick facilities and several of the people that I worked with there. Orrick's service team is a finalist for a prestigous industry award, and they give our product credit as one of the things (certainly not the only thing!) that got them there...

Obama and Education...

The Obamas' little girls go to a pricey private school – $20,000+ per year each just for tuition. I applaud them for being willing to sink that kind of serious money into providing a solid education for their kids. I don't know anything at all about the school they're sending their kids to, but I have to assume that they've got their little girls' best interests in mind, and that they're doing the best they know how to give their kids the opportunity to excel. That's terrific, and I mean that most sincerely – this is one of the few actions of the Obamas that I find admirable.

But it also serves to point out, in a very clarifying way, Obama's staggering hypocrisy on the subject of education. He and his wife make good use of their wealth to get their kids out of our miserable public schools – but Obama adamantly opposes any such opportunity for ordinary parents. You know, those parents his party claims to represent.

The issue of education, perhaps more than any other, highlights the intrinsic conflict of interest between ordinary people and the Democratic Party. Ordinary parents (the kind who can't afford to spend $20K/year on their kids) desperately want to be able to control where their kids go to school. The Democratic Party (most definitely including Obama) opposes any and every kind of school choice.

The National Education Assocation (NEA) rates Obama's voting record on education as “perfect”. Their definition of perfect is very much self-interested, no matter how much they cloak it in “for the children” rhetoric.

The NEA and Obama are for more education funding, and against any financial reform. The implicit assumption in this is that public schools currently use their funding in a manner which could not be improved, and of course this is absurd. There are numerous examples of non-public school systems that spend less, have smaller bureaucracies, and that graduate kids with demonstrably superior knowledge and skills. The parochial school system is but one such example, but it's a good one.

The NEA and Obama are against any form of school choice, including (most famously) vouchers. While they don't like to say this directly, one cannot escape the conclusion that their objective is to force every parent to send their children to the school chosen for them by the education bureaucracy. No school choice for ordinary parents, only for the wealthy.

The NEA and Obama are against merit pay, are against firing substandard (but certified) teachers, and are against every other program that would rid our public schools of bad teachers and attract good teachers to them. They have many arguments for these positions, but they all boil down to this: they are putting the interests of the rank-and-file (mediocre by definition) union members ahead of the interests of the children. Oh, they won't say that, of course – but that is in fact what they are doing.

Obama's and the Democratic Party's position on education is inexplicable until you factor in this: the single biggest supporter of the Democratic Party is the NEA. Not just in cash, but also in contributions of grass-roots labor. For example, over half of all the delegates to the Democratic Party's convention are NEA members (and more than half the remaining delegates are members of other public-sector unions). The Democratic Party (and Obama) must support the NEA's positions, or they lose money and help they can't afford to lose.

In a very real way, the Democratic Party is an extension of public-sector unions, most especially the NEA. The interests of those unions (and by extension, of the Democratic Party) are clearly in conflict with those “ordinary Joe” voters the Democrats claim to support.

Obama: hypocrite on education. Here's a case where his actions speak far louder than his words. He and his wife have made a choice to take their kids out of public school. We all know why they're doing so – and I, for one, completely agree with him on that score. But Obama doesn't want you and I to have that same choice...

Full Moon...

Just got back in from taking the dogs for a walk, at 4 am. There's a full moon high in our clear southwestern sky, and it is very bright. I could easily see colors – not only bright colors in close objects (like the dog's leashes), but also on the hills several miles away. The bright moonlight lit up Cajon Mountain, some 15 miles away; its light-colored granite faces were clearly visible. The skies were relatively haze-free – I could still make out major constellations, the Pleiades, etc.

The dogs seemed to enjoy the moonlight, too – they were straining at their leashes for our entire morning walk...

Democrats Hit Bottom, Keep Digging (Chapter 16,543)...

Reader Gary P. sent me to this post over at the Daily Kos, recommending the analysis by Paul Hackett (a well-known liberal commentator who posts over there). The analysis is interesting, but what really caught my eye was Hackett's advice to Democratic operatives in Ohio, saying that the message they should send to the media is this:

"Sarah Palin? Can't keep her solemn oath of devotion to her husband and had sex with his employee. Sarah Palin? Accidentally got pregnant at age 43 and the tax payers of Alaska have to pay for the care of her disabled child. Sarah Palin? Unable to teach her 16 year old daughter right from wrong and now another teenager is pregnant. Sarah Palin? Can you trust Sarah Palin and her values with America's future? John McCain? Divorced from his first wife one month and marries a billionaire influence peddler and convicted felon. John McCain, a record of rash and impulsive decisions. That’s not change that’s more of the same.”

Seriously, this is what he's recommending. It's not a parody or a joke; he means it. It's as if the backfire on the Democrats from all the lies and dirt they've already spread about Palin was invisible. The Democrats are in worse shape than I thought, if this is the level they've descended to...

Farewell from the Commander...

General David Petraeus has turned over his command in Iraq to move up the chain to CENTCOM. We Americans owe this exceptional leader our gratitude. Here's his farewell letter to the troops that were under his command:

Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, Coast Guardsmen, and Civilians of Multi-National Force-Iraq:

It has been the greatest of privileges to have been your commander for the past 19 months. During that time,we and our civilian and Iraqi partners have been engaged in an exceedingly complex, difficult, and important task. And in the face of numerous challenges, we and our partners have helped bring new hope to a country that was besieged by extremists and engulfed in sectarian violence.

When I took command of Multi-National Force-Iraq in February 2007, I noted that the situation in Iraq was hard but not hopeless. You have proven that assessment to be correct. Indeed, your great work, sacrifice, courage, and skill have helped to reverse a downward spiral toward civil war and to wrest the initiative from the enemies of the new Iraq.

Together, Iraqi and Coalition Forces have faced determined, adaptable, and barbaric enemies. You and our Iraqi partners have taken the fight to them, and you have taken away their sanctuaries and safe havens. You have helped secure the Iraqi people and have enabled, and capitalized on, their rejection of extremism. You have also supported the Iraqi Security Forces as they have grown in number and capability and as they have increasingly shouldered more of the responsibility for security in their country.

You have not just secured the Iraqi people, you have served them, as well. By helping establish local governance, supporting reconstruction efforts, assisting with revitalization of local businesses, fostering local reconciliation, and conducting a host of othernon-kinetic activities, you have contributed significantly to the communities in which you have operated. Indeed, you have been builders and diplomats as well as guardians and warriors.

The progress achieved has been hard-earned. There have been many tough days along the way, and we have suffered tragic losses. Indeed, nothing in Iraq has been anything but hard. But you have been more than equal to every task.

Your accomplishments have, in fact, been the stuff of history. Each of you should be proud of what has been achieved and of the contributions you continue to make. Although our tasks in Iraq are far from complete and hard work and tough fights lie ahead, you have helped bring about remarkable improvements.

Your new commander is precisely the right man for the job. General Ray Odierno played a central role in the progress achieved during the surge. He brings tremendous skill, experience, and understanding as he returns to Iraq for a third tour and takes the helm of MNF-I just seven months after relinquishing command of MultiNational Corps-Iraq. I have total confidence in him, and I will do all that I can as the commander of Central Command to help him, MNF-I, and our Iraqi partners to achieve the important goals that we all share for the new Iraq.

Thank you for your magnificent work here in the "Land of the Two Rivers." And thank you for your sacrifices-and for those of your families--during this crucial phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom. I am honored to have soldiered with you in this critical endeavor.

With great respect and all best wishes


David H. Petraeus
General, United States Army
Commanding

In my own experience in the military, commanders like these were rare indeed. I hope that's no longer true – I hope we now have a passel of them tucked away to help us in the tough years ahead. But meanwhile, I'm very glad we've had General Petraeus...

Speechless...

Me, that is – not this guy:


This is James David Manning, Ph. D., of the ATLAH World Missionary Church, in New York. I know nothing about him or his church. After watching this video (sent to me by my brother), my head is still spinning and I'm suffering from some combination of shocked sensibilities, stomach pains from laughing so hard, and hoarseness from cheering. I don't know whether to give this guy a little more exposure, or to soak my computer in some antibiotic solution.

So I put it up here for you to view. I look forward to your reactions...

Obama Takedown...

This is one of the best I've read, and amazingly it's by a British writer – Gerard Baker, writing in the London Times. The piece is brilliant, and I hope you'll read the whole thing. Here's his conclusion:

The essential problem coming to light is a profound disconnect between the Barack Obama of the candidate's speeches, and the Barack Obama who has actually been in politics for the past decade or so.

Speechmaker Obama has built his campaign on the promise of reform, the need to change the culture of American political life, to take on the special interests that undermine government's effectiveness and erode trust in the system itself,

Politician Obama rose through a Chicago machine that is notoriously the most corrupt in the country. As David Freddoso writes in a brilliantly cogent and measured book, The Case Against Barack Obama, the angel of deliverance from the old politics functioned like an old-time Democratic pol in Illinois. He refused repeatedly to side with those lonely voices that sought to challenge the old corrupt ways of the ruling party.

Speechmaker Obama talks about an era of bipartisanship, He speaks powerfully about the destructive politics of red and blue states.

Politician Obama has toed his party's line more reliably than almost any other Democrat in US politics. He has a near-perfect record of voting with his side. He has the most solidly left-wing voting history in the Senate. His one act of bipartisanship, a transparency bill co-sponsored with a Republican senator, was backed by everybody on both sides of the aisle. He has never challenged his party's line on any issue of substance.

Speechmaker Obama talks a lot about finding ways to move beyond the bloody battlegrounds of the “culture wars” in America; the urgent need to establish consensus on the emotive issue of abortion.

Politician Obama's support for abortion rights is the most extreme of any Democratic senator. In the Illinois legislature he refused to join Democrats and Republicans in supporting a Bill that would require doctors to provide medical care for babies who survived abortions. No one in the Senate - not the arch feminist Hillary Clinton nor the superliberal Edward Kennedy - opposed this same humane measure.

Here's the real problem with Mr Obama: the jarring gap between his promises of change and his status quo performance. There are just too many contradictions between the eloquent poetry of the man's stirring rhetoric and the dull, familiar prose of his political record.

It's been remarked that the biggest difference between Americans and Europeans is religion: ignorant Americans cling to faith; enlightened Europeans long ago embraced the liberating power of reason. Yet here's an odd thing about this election. Europeans are asking Americans to take a leap of faith, to break the chains of empiricism and embrace the possibility of the imagination.

The fact is that a vote for Mr Obama demands uncritical subservience to the irrational, anti-empirical proposition that the past holds no clues about the future, that promise is wholly detached from experience. The second-greatest story ever told, perhaps.

Nicely said, Mr. Baker!

Loose With the Facts, Again...

The liberals, that is.

A commenter to an earlier post made a standard liberal talking point. If I remove all the boilerplate Team Obama rhetoric, the rants, the bile, the insults, etc., essentially the commenter said this: of course the Republicans donated more to charity – they (the Republicans) are the rich ones, while the Democrats are all poor.

It would be a good point if it were true. But for decades now, the majority of wealthy Americans have been liberals, and have overwhelmingly voted Democratic. Are you surprised? You shouldn't be – just think of the Kennedys, George Soros, Bill Gates, the Pelosis, Kerry/Heinz, nearly all of Hollywood, Oprah, and on and on.

The actual demographic data is actually quite interesting. There's a good article about it here. It's hard to characterize in a simple way, as there's a lot of variation from place to place within the U.S. But speaking very generally, it's safe to say that the majority of America's middle class is conservative or libertarian (leaning Republican), and the majority of both America's wealthy and America's poor are liberal (leaning Democrat). The two best correllates to self-identified liberals are (a) wealth, and (b) living in urban areas. The two best correllates to self-identified conservatives or libertarians are (a) living in suburban or rural areas, and (b) Christian faith.

So my commenter's assertion about why conservatives and libertarions give more to charity doesn't fit with the actual facts – like so many other liberal memes...

The New Sitemeter...

Sitemeter is a web site traffic tracking tool used by many bloggers (and other web sites, I'm sure). I've used it for years, and I liked it enough to keep paying for it. If I'd been asked to grade the old product, I'd have given it a B or B+.

Today Sitemeter, after much fanfare, switched over to a brand-new site. It appears to have been rebuilt from the ground up. My first impressions are all negative. It's slow (though maybe this is partly because they just started up). It's way too complicated. I haven't yet figured out how to get all the information I used to get with a single click. The information I have figured out how to get takes more effort to get it. The old site used to leave me logged in, the new site requires me to re-login after some period of time.

It's just plain awful. I'd give it a failing grade: E. I know they never asked me about the new design, but I'm wondering if they asked anybody at all – the new site looks to me like someone's “brilliant” idea that they never bothered to check out with their customers.

So now I'm looking for an alternative vendor. Does anybody have any recommendations?

Update: The Sitemeter site is now displaying a message saying that they're rolling back to the former system. It doesn't say why, or whether this is a permanent rollback – but just in case they're paying attention: PLEASE! PLEASE MAKE THE ROLLBACK PERMANENT!!!

Sarah and Hillary on SNL...

Reader Simon M., knowing that I don't watch television, passed this clip along:

Dust Devils on Mars...

The little Phoenix lander, far in the north on Mars, managed to image a dust devil dancing across the plains. The dust devils were expected; they're a well-known phenomenon on Mars at this point. Spirit and Opportunity (the two rovers that are still operating on Mars) have encountered and photographed them several times. But I don't think anyone was expecting the stationary Phoenix lander to be able to do so. This site has much more information, and an animation.